Susan Brinkmann

Susan Brinkmann (1963, Southampton)
Studied art in Tilburg, the Netherlands
Living in the Netherlands

My artwork is realistic, but I want to achieve more than photographic realism.

I think that I make realistic drawings because I want to understand better what my subjects are made of, inside and out. I want to know what is ‘underneath’, but also to almost feel the texture and even underneath the surface I draw.

It has taken years to discover what is essential in my work: and I would say now that it is texture and light. There are always pictures in my head waiting to come to life. I am truly never without inspiration. The only thing I lack is enough time to create all these images.

When I’m drawing, I feel a connection to the subject or place I’m drawing. Maybe that’s why I love to make pictures of beautiful Santorini (Greece). Unlike what most tourists think, the colours of Santorini are not white and blue, but many shades of brown and grey, with some white and blue. Funnily enough, I use the exact same colors when I draw portraits of people and animals.

When I make black and white drawings, I like to use black and grey coloured pencils. My favorite pencils are Faber Castell Polychromos and Caran D’Ache Supracolor Soft pencils.

During the last two years, my work has been published in Drawing magazine, Colored Pencil magazine, Ann Kullberg’s Colored Pencil magazine and Ann Kullberg’s CP Treasures Volume 3.